The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-11-22

A SPIRITUAL MEDIUM BROUGHT
TO GRIEF BY A REPORTER.

SPIRIT u AL AAEO4Ola EhO OGEI
10 GRIEF BY A REPORTER.
He Visited the seance VITA Confed-
crates, Grabbed the Alleged Materi-
allied SPIRIT, and ound it to BIO the
Medium Herself
From the Neto York Sun
Boston. Nov. 1S.-One of the most prom
inent undertaking mediums in town for a
long time has been Mrs Herman B. Fay,
who has given public seances regularly in
a fino house at 90 West Newton street. Yes
terday afternoon the Record sent a party
of ten young men and two young women to
one of her seances to test the genuineness of
her spiritualistic manifestations The in
yestigators had lively time before they
cot through with it, and so did the medium
and her assistants The visitors found
fifteen others present, most of them
men. Daylight was shut out of the
room where the seance was given by heavy
draperieS In one corner was the cabinet
and opposite it were about thirty chairs for
visitors, arranged in semi-circle. Mr..
Shorey. proprietor of the Cambridge Laun-
dry and former publisher of the Nursery
came in and took a seat. 1t was somewhat
Of a surprise, too, to see Mr.. Dame ex-reve-
nue. collector walk into the room and make
himself very much at home. A pale,
dreamy, gazelle-like creature foated into
the room, and took a seat at the cabinet
organ.
At $50 p. m. Mrs. Fay, the medium,
arose She is about medium height, weighs
about 1856 to lao pounds, and is very ath-
letic, strong woman She is German, and
her voice, even when sunk to a whisper, be-
trays strong German accent. Standing in
front of the Cabinet, Mrs. Fay said:
Before commencing my seance | wish to
give my rules for conducting it. First, |
wish that forms which come out of the cabi-
net shall not be molested; second, no one
must move about the room during the
seance; third, if any forms do appear, re-
,nember that it isn't me; fourth, keep your
feet fiat on the floor. This was so that any
TOO curious Investigator couldn't trip up the
alleged materalized spirit.] If anyone don't
want to do as l say they can now leave the
room, before the Seance begins. 1t is my
rule to take up the fees before the seance.
All remained in the room, and Capt
Dixon, the master of ceremonies, passed
6round, collecting 81 per head. The Cap
tain then lighted candle, and all who de-
sired had an opportunity TO examine the
cabinet. 1t was the regulation cabinet,
WIFI Il uIOI ttlOl WV WlllllONo. lhO OhCh
of it was said by the medium to be a very
simple folding door, A reporter was posi-
tive that it was sliding door opening into
the back room, from which the mediums
confederates entered the cabinet.
After the examiners had resumed their
seats the medium laughingly said that if
any one wanted to sit in the back room dur
ing the seance they might do So although a
man who had done so once had seen his wife
in the mirror and been frightened half to
death, which, she declared, was good
enough for him. No one left the main
room.
The light of the single gas jet was then
extinguished, the curtains were tightly
drawn, and every ray of light excluded
from the room save that of tallow candle,
which hickered and spluttered on the cabi-
net organ Mrs. Fay entered the cabinet,
the wheeZy notes of the organ 1oated out
over the room, and the extremely thin So
prano voice of the pale-faced sylph began to
MARBLE Sweet hour of prayer" Those
who felt like it joined in the singing, but it
was not very powerful chorus. In few
minutes a figure drsp Il in white emerged
from the cabinet, and, advancing little
way into the room, beckoned to an elderly
gentleman who had examined the cabinet
The two entered the cabinet
Here is your daughter Matte. - whispered
the ghostly figure, but even the whisper be-
trayed the German accent of Mrs Fay.
Taking hold of his hands she laid them
upon the head of girl who was sitting in a
chair, and said There she is" BY feel
ing of the hair and cheeks of the alleged
"Mattie," the gentleman was enabled to
Judge that the child was girl from II to IA
years old, and undoubtedly Capt. Dixon's
daughter.
"0h, yes" said he; Il am delighted to see
you"
As he was leaving the cabinet the girl put
her arms around him and kissed him. "Shall
we gather at the river" droned ont the girl
at the organ, and in a few minutes the
white figure, taller than before, again
emerged from the cabinet. This time it Sc
lected a lady, who promptly recognized 'her
ancient guide, TIE guide of my life" and she
burst into tears The organist now changed
her tune from Moody and Sankey hymns to
negro melody, and ground out ''Way Down
on the Suwannee River" A very intelli-
gent-appearing lady was selected by The
draped figure, and she said the ''materialized
spirit was that of an old colored woman
who used to sew for her in the South.
The next form" was that of young girl.
A gentleman sitting near the piano re-
sponded to the reckoning finger. He held
several minutes conversation with her and
kissed her, but as he was believer and the
conversation was conducted in whisper,
much of what was said could not be heard.
The figure claimed to be his daughter.
Did you see how she sunk into the fioorw
said the man as he took his seat, evidently
very much impressed.
The figure had by this time evidently be-
come convinced that it had a sympathetic
audience, and ventured far down the room.
1t appeared as a gypsy girl with long hair
flowing down ner back. Advancing boldly,
it paused in front of one of the investigators
and coniidingly stretched forth both hands.
Like fash the man clincbed them in
strong grasp, and CALCULATED "Now!" In
stantly the Record man ignited bunch of
matches, and the chandelier was a
blaze of light. Other ready hands
stripped away the curtains and the
suns rays flooded the room. In the
centre of the room, directly under
the blaze of the chandelier. struggling,
fighting, biting, scratching like tigress in
the grasp of four strong men, who had all
they could do to hold her, was Mrs. Herman
Fav. She had said that the form would
not be hers, but she got there just the same.
Her flowing hair, a switch about two feet
long, had been torn from her head in the
melee, as was also her spirit robe, a piece
of cheap cotton gauze about four yards
long and two and half yards wide. Capt.
Dixon, who attempted to release Mrs. Fay,
was grabbed around the neck by another
athletic young man. He struggled vigor
ously. and shouted: Cd you let me go;"
but he was held in a firm CLASP. Mrs Fays